An Indian-origin man has deleted his social media profiles after a video of him dancing at the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., sparked widespread outrage. The reel, filmed at the site dedicated to millions of fallen soldiers, drew such fierce backlash that the individual has since deactivated both his LinkedIn and Instagram accounts.
What had happened?
It all started with a video shared by TikTok user @madhu_raju_ (Who used the same name for his Instagram profile). The video shows him and a woman performing the popular “Don’t Rush Challenge” in front of the memorial. What followed was a massive criticism, with people questioning the choice of location. Though the original video has been deleted, it is now circulating on social media platforms, especially X.
An X user who goes by “The Repatriator” criticised the act and shared the video. The tweet soon went viral, prompting people to share varied reactions, including some racist ones.
What did social media say?
An individual commented, “The reason I have no intention of going abroad in the near future is that. A local has no way of distinguishing me from these people.” Another added, “Absolute disgrace. A war memorial is a place of sacrifice and silence, not a stage for TikTok dances. This level of disrespect, unfortunately, shames the entire Indian community. These m***ns need to be identified and held accountable.”
{{/usCountry}}An individual commented, “The reason I have no intention of going abroad in the near future is that. A local has no way of distinguishing me from these people.” Another added, “Absolute disgrace. A war memorial is a place of sacrifice and silence, not a stage for TikTok dances. This level of disrespect, unfortunately, shames the entire Indian community. These m***ns need to be identified and held accountable.”
{{/usCountry}}A third expressed, “India sent over 2.5 MILLION soldiers to fight in WW2, my grandfather was one of them, and he took a bullet in his leg. DC WW2 Memorial is a place of remembrance, NOT a TikTok set. Behaviour like this reflects poorly on the hardworking Indians in America who honour that legacy.”
A fourth wrote, “When you move to a different country, make sure you are aware of its history and cultural sensitivities. Remember: you are a guest, you don’t own the place. Ever heard the phrase “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”? Follow that. This kind of buffoonery is really cringe and insensitive at a US war memorial.”
Does he work at Palo Alto Networks?
An X user claims that the man in the video works at Palo Alto Networks. The individual tagging the company wrote, “This is a heads-up before your legal team gets contacted early next week, and possibly on Monday. Your employee is in the video. His name is Madhu Raju, and he has been a Cloud Network Security Engineer at your company since June 2025.”
Online sleuths claim that the man in the video also runs MAD Dallas dance studio. However, the establishment's social media profiles have been deleted.
(Disclaimer: This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)